What does confidence have to do with resilience?

Confidence and resilience

Do you think there might be some overlap in terms of the meanings ascribed to these words?

According to the Oxford Dictionary definition, confidence is the feeling or belief that one can have faith in or rely on someone or something. There is some sort of degree of certainly here. Confidence is a key characteristic among the highly resilient. A confident person might not be equipped with all the knowledge and skills necessary to overcome a challenge or stressful situation but they may be confident enough in their abilities to acquire what they need.

Most of us have at least some confidence in ourselves and abilities, usually more so in some areas than others. Some people might be highly confident in their work environment, but any unexpected changes in their family or personal life may trigger a severe emotional impact.

When we ask parents what resilience means, we often hear ‘the ability to bounce back’. Aligned with the Oxford Dictionary definition, resilience seems to be the ability to withstand or recover quickly from difficult or stressful conditions.

Is confidence linked to resilience?

We can see that a drain on confidence may be due to doubts, fears or worries about the past or future. This may create some resistance when struggling to work through a particularly challenging situation but also, when striving to achieve a goal.

The less confident you may be about your abilities, the less likely you may be in putting yourself in a position which tests our true capabilities in a challenging situation. This challenging situation may be positive or negative. Do you think that if you are less confident in your abilities, you would be less likely to want to embrace new, yet positive opportunities?

How can we make best use of our abilities to help ourselves and our loved ones overcome challenges?

“Since attending this course my boys have gained a lot of confidence and are much braver when approaching new situations or old situations that used to scare them. They have both gained so much initiative and are so much more helpful at home and at school. They are offering to do things around the house and participating in class discussions with enthusiasm. I’m so glad we decided to do this course for our children’s development.” Family from Singleton, Term 1, 2017.

The FRIENDS Resilience Programs are a set of Programs which aim to prevent anxiety and depression across the lifespan. The FRIENDS Resilience Programs for children are delivered by psychologists trained by Resilience Kit when run in parallel with the Parenting Strategies and Adult Resilience Program for parents and caregivers.